Great conference going on so far: the 14th International Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking is in full swing.  Lots of current experts and fantastic information being presented here on all aspects of gambling.  Here are some of my highlights:

• a thorough presentation on the 'Great Recession' and its impact on the gaming industry with not a particularly good outlook -- gaming analyst Eugene Christiansen really laid it out: its all about the debt & the outlook is questionable, at best
• historian Alicia Barber using a lot of great images to track the development of Reno, Nevada as a gaming town and capital of cultural fringe through the years, now in flux as a casino community as Las Vegas' success turned it differently in the late 20th and early 21st centuries
• consultant David Kranes' eloquent essay on the magic of gaming with a poetic, thoughtful, wistful take on the casino experience, past and present
• Richard Missens and Joanne Goodpipe of the First Nations University of Canada, Saskatchewan on Indian gaming in Saskatchewan - particularly insightful on the connections of values to the First Nations' gaming up there
• Indian gaming experts Steven Light and Kathryn Rand on the state if Indian gaming 20 years after the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) -- grown so much & is now a viable industry, but with significant legal and political issues un-resolved -- Carcieri vs. Salazar's legacy is a big one
• Lots more great stuff -- these are just  a few sessions that have stuck with me...beyond my own presentation on situation involving the Florida Seminoles and its historical development.